Land of Fire, Konohagakure...
In the two days after Hyuga Mokujin left, Tsunade received another letter from Kumogakure. Its tone was considerably more polite than before, but its contents could be summed up as follows:
The Two-Tails' jinchuriki had been captured by the Akatsuki. Since the capture had taken place relatively close to Konoha, Kumogakure was willing to cooperate, but wanted Konoha to provide assistance first. Once Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails' jinchuriki, had been rescued, they could discuss what came next.
To put it even more simply, Kumogakure wanted something for nothing. But if they wanted an alliance, Kumogakure's strength was indeed a force they could not overlook. It could even be said that, of all the ninja villages, theirs had preserved its strength the best.
Tsunade paced in her office, frowning. "I keep feeling they're hiding something. We already warned them, so why did Yugito Nii turn up over there? And how did she end up getting captured?"
"Maybe it was a coincidence." Jiraiya had his own suspicions about that. If he was right, then Kumogakure had truly suffered a double loss in this operation.
"Is that so?" Tsunade murmured. In any case, the Two-Tails' capture was bad news for both them and Kumogakure. The question of whom to send to help, however, required some consideration.
"Speaking of which, how has Naruto been doing lately?"
"Naruto? Honestly, he's been making pretty good progress lately," Jiraiya said thoughtfully and earnestly.
"Kids love competing with each other, after all. With Sasuke and his Three-Tomoe there to 'motivate' him, he's hardly slacked off in his training. It's just..."
"It's just what? Did something happen?"
As though remembering something, Jiraiya looked like he was holding back a laugh. "No, no. Naruto just thought he'd gotten strong enough to beat that Hyuga boy. But